The problem I'm facing is the fact that when I try to open the Steam Client from my computer, nothing happens. There's the loading symbol next to the cursor for a few seconds, but that's it. Nothing else happens. I've tried restarting my computer, disabling my firewall, and completely disabling my Anti-Virus (Norton Anti-Virus) after I have disconnected from the internet. Still, nothing happens. I was going to uninstall Norton Anti-Virus and get AVG instead, but on the support page for "Programs Which May Interfere With Steam", it is said to be even more of a problem than Norton. I've also tried putting Steam.exe as an acceptance for Norton, but that did nothing. Also, I've installed the most recent Java version. Is there any suggestions that you guys have for me to get Steam working, or another Anti-Virus I could use that is (preferably free) safe and won't interfere with Steam?

Oh, I just remembered. I haven't tried a full reinstallation of Steam, because I have dial-up usually, but I took my computer to a relatives house where I could use their wi-fi. I also played a Steam game (Amnesia, to be exact) rather recently (within the last month, I believe), and just after that I ran a full back-up and full scan.

Only do a reinstall as a last restort. If you do reinstall Steam be sure to save your steamapps folder somewhere safe(desktop, stand alone HD, another partition) so you don't have to redownload all your games again. Especially if as you say you are stuck with dial-up.

Try these things in order til hopefully something works.

1) Do a blob fix. Exit steam, find and rename your ClientRegistry.blob file. Restart Steam and see if it will load.
if that doesn't work try #2

2) Delete everything but the steamapps folder and the Steam exe. Restart Steam. It should redownload the files deleted and start up. If that doesn't work go to #3

I just noticed all of you are using 'Restart Steam' for the fixes. That would imply that for it to work, I would have to have access to Steam. I can't open it up, at all. So the blob fix wouldn't work without starting Steam. Steam isn't on the task manager, by the way. It's completely off from what I can tell.

Quote:

2) Delete everything but the steamapps folder and the Steam exe. Restart Steam. It should redownload the files deleted and start up. If that doesn't work go to #3

Just tried that. I clicked on the icon and it said:

"Steam - Fatal Error

Steam needs to be online to update, but was set to offline mode."
At least it's responding. But how do I set it to online mode without turning Steam on? Do I need to do a full reinstall at this point, since that's really one of the few options left? Yes, I now know it's a last resort, but I have maybe a good 3 or 4 hours before I have to leave. (I can still get on the Steam Forums on dial-up, though.)

I don't think this qualifies as a necropost, so I'll just say it
First go into Task manager and make sure Steam.exe isn't there.
If it is there, end its process
That's how fixed my Steam

Yep, exactly. Watch the Steam entry for a minute or two first to see if it's using any CPU cycles, and if not, end the process, wait about 10-20 seconds and restart. Works every time I've needed it to.